"You know how it is, hon, the marketing and sales clowns move up the proposal date, and I'm stuck yet again scrambling to write my chapter for their bid package on time. I won't be home until midnight tonight." The telephone squawked in my ear, and I pulled it away. I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead as my wife complained predictably and loudly.
"Don't you think I know it's a Friday?...And, yes, I'll be in early tomorrow, too. You'll have to take Karen to her soccer match...Yes, again...Jesus! I know I agreed to take her, but she's not my kid, I'm just a step-dad and she hates me half the time anyway!"
"Squawk squawk..."
"How about if I quit and take her to the game? Then we can starve out on the street? That okay? No? Then quit yer bitchin' and help me out for a change. Goodbye! Damn! I've got work to do!"
I dropped the handset in its cradle and rubbed my face with both hands. Damn that bitch, she always made things as difficult as possible. I really didn't want to stay on with her any more, I thought. She even makes sex a chore. I sighed and opened my eyes, looking around the room before turning back to my work. Suki was standing in the doorway, looking uncomfortable. "Oh, hi!" I said brightly. "I'm sorry you had to hear that. How's it going on your side?"
"You too, huh? My husband complained too. He'll miss the baseball game tomorrow if I'm not there to take his little girl to the park." She shook her head. "They think we like it here, and they think we love to watch their kids while they...well, never mind that, Jack. I"m having some problems making my model fit the changes the front office wants. Could you come over and help?"
"Sure, let's take a look." I got up and followed Suki across the small lobby to her office, the swell of her hips and the sway of her ass under her skirt taking my mind off my troubles. Suki went around her desk and sat in front of her computer. I stood behind her and leaned over her shoulder, scanning the model on the tube and asking questions as she led me through what she was attempting to do. Her shiny black hair was tied, as always, in a long thick erotic pony tail, and it smelled faintly of apples, something I'd never been close enough to observe before.
I concentrated on my work and ignored my faster heartbeat. "There's your problem. You've got your elements switched."
She turned to look at me, her dark brown almond-shaped eyes only inches from mine. "What? Which ones? I don't see them."
I moved back a little and reached for the mouse, her soft hand slipping out from under mine. "This guy here, and that one. They're connected wrong." I pointed with the screen cursor. "Put them together here in the middle, and get rid of the elements they were mated with, and you'll be happier."
"I'll be happier?" She laughed. "They'll work together, you mean."
I blushed. "Yeah. Of course. Do that, and it should work." I took a risk and patted her hand as she reached for the mouse again. "Just yell if you have any questions. You know where I'll be."
She gave me a brilliant smile, her small teeth straight and perfect. "I'll do just that, Jack."
I sat back in front of my own computer, wondering why the hell I made that pass at Suki. I'd always been strictly professional in the office, both because I was married, and because I didn't want trouble with any hags raising sexual harassment suits. But Suki Hirashi-Anderson wasn't a hag. Half the company probably watched for her at lunch as her trim form jogged the two miles around the industrial park. I sighed. It was certainly because I'd always been attracted to Japanese girls, and Suki's delicate exotic beauty must have been copied from my dreams by the gods. Added to this was our recently shared mutual vulnerability that made me feel so close to her. I shook my head and went back to work, the smell of apples lingering in my nose.
"Hey, Jack! You hungry?" I looked up from my work. The model was coming together smoothly, and maybe we wouldn't have to spend too much time here on Saturday after all. Suki's sudden intrusion startled me.
"Yah. Don't do that to me. What time is it, anyway?"